U.S. Men's Update: Save the Dates

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 25, 2010) – The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team is holding two intersquad scrimmages in Southern California in May.

On May 15, the team will scrimmage at 7:30 p.m. at JSerra Catholic High School, 26351 Junipero Serra Road in San Juan Capistrano.

On May 21, the team will scrimmage at 7:30 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid at 1250 North Bellflower Blvd., in Long Beach.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for kids and seniors and LBSU students will get in free. Tickets are available at the Walter Pyramid box office or online at www.longbeachstate.com.

Russia

The Russian Super League teams played their final matches of the regular season on March 21 and begin the first round of playoffs on April 1.

Zenit Kazan, featuring Lloy Ball (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawaii), won the league title and finished the season by defeating Yaroslavich Yaroslavl, 3-1 (27-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21). Kazan rested its starters in the match so neither Ball nor Stanley played.

Kazan will be playing Yaroslavl, which finished eighth in the league, in the playoffs.

Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, the Russian team of David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) and Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.), finished third in the league and fell to Lokomotiv Izumrud, 18-25, 21-25, 22-25, in their final match of the regular season.

Priddy had 12 points for Novosibirsk on nine kills and three blocks. His kill percentage was 0.43. Lee had 11 points on five kills and six blocks. His kill percentage was 0.56.

Novosibirsk will play sixth-place Iskra Odintsovo in the first round of the playoffs.

Fakel Novy Urengoi, the Russian team of Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.), finished in fourth place and won its last regular season match against Gazprom Ugra, 3-2 (19-25, 28-30, 25-23, 27-25, 15-11).

Rooney scored 14 points on 12 kills and two blocks. Hansen scored one point on a block and set the team to a kill percentage of 0.49.

Fakel will play fifth-place Dynamo Moscow in the first round of the playoffs.

Turkey

Turkey finished its regular season on March 21 with a match featuring two U.S. players against each other.

Fenerbahce, which features Gabe Gardner (San Clemente, Calif.), had already secured the regular season league victory, but nevertheless defeated Halkbank, the Turkish team of Evan Patak (Pleasanton, Calif.), 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-29, 25-23).

Gardner led all scorers with 22 points on 17 kills and five blocks. His kill percentage was 0.49. Patak substituted in two sets and scored one point on one ace.

Fenerbahce will play Maliye Milli Piyango in the first round of the playoffs. Halkbank will play Aras Spor.

Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediye (IBB), the Turkish league team of Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.) and Scott Touzinsky (St. Louis, Mo.), swept Belediye Plevne, 25-14, 25-14, 25-13, in its final regular season match. Millar did not play in the match. Touzinsky scored six points on five kills and one block.

IBB will face SGK in the first round of the playoffs.

World Championship Tickets Now on Sale

Tickets for the FIVB 2010 Men’s World Championship went on sale on March 16 beginning the countdown to the competition, which runs Sept. 24-Oct. 10 in Italy.

Matches are set to be played across the country, with stages taking place in Milan, Verona, Modena, Reggio Calabria, Torino, Trieste, Florence and Ancona. The winners will be crowned in Rome on the final day of the tournament.

The U.S. Men are opening in Reggio Calabria against Mexico (Sept. 25), Venezuela (Sept. 26) and Argentina (Sept. 27).

The NET Live is an Internet radio show hosted by former U.S. Men’s Team player and two-time Olympian Kevin Barnett along with current team member, two-time Olympian and 2008 gold medalist Reid Priddy.

The show is usually broadcast at 10 a.m. PT on Mondays and features interviews with a variety of volleyball personalities along with banter by the two hosts and sidekick/engineer Dan “Kinda Good” Madden.

Which university had the greatest number of alums on the roster of the 2008 U.S. Men’s Olympic Team?

Italy

Prisma Taranto, the Italian Serie A League team that includes Donald Suxho (Korce, Albania), finished its season on March 21 with a 29-31, 25-19, 25-21, 27-25 loss to Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo, which finished second in the league.

Suxho scored five points on three kills and two blocks and also set the team to a kill percentage of 0.51. Taranto finished the season in 11th place.

Marmi Lanza Verona, featuring Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio), opened the league playoffs on March 24 with a 22-15, 17-25, 30-32 loss to league-winner Itas Diatec Trentino.

Holt started all three sets and scored six points on four kills, one block and one ace. Verona finished the regular season in eighth place, gaining the final playoff spot.

Brazil

Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) led his Brazilian league team Vivo/Minas with 10 points on 10 kills, but it was swept by Brasil Vôlei Clube, 21-25, 20-25, 18-25 on March 18.

Vivo/Minas is in seventh place in the league.

France

Poitiers, the French League team of Paul Lotman (Lakewood, Calif.) continues to sit in fourth place in the league after defeating Narbonne, 25-19, 25-16, 25-23, on March 23. Lotman scored 13 points on 12 kills and one block.

Prior to that on March 20, AS Cannes, which is in third place in the league, swept Poitiers, 27-25, 28-26, 25-17. Lotman scored 10 points on eight kills, one block and one ace.

Poitiers has also advanced to the semifinals of the French Cup, where it will play Tours on April 1.

Spain

Unicaja Almeria, the Spanish league featuring David Smith (Saugus, Calif.) and Matt Denmark (Edmond, Okla.), finished the season by winning the Copa del Rey on March 21 with a 25-21, 25-19, 33-35, 25-18 victory over MultiCaja Fábregas Sport.

Smith scored 11 points in the final and Denmark had four.

Germany

RWE Volleys Bottrop, the German league team of Jonathan Winder (Irvine, Calif.), swept EnBW TV Rottenburg, 25-21, 25-18, 33-31 on March 20. Winder started all three sets, scoring eight points on five kills, two blocks and one ace and setting the team to a 0.45 kill percentage.

Benfica, the Portuguese League team of Alfee Reft (Oxnard, Calif.) and Robert Tarr (Cape Canaveral, Fla.) has advanced to the final round of the Portuguese Cup and will play Costelo de Maia on April 3.

It has also advanced to the finals of the Portuguese League, but does not yet know its opponent. The finals begin on April 10.